Fall 2009 – Spring 2011 Degree Requirements
The list of courses required to obtain a degree is called
the program of work. A total of 30
hours of coursework within 3 areas is needed to complete the program of work for
both the MSCS coursework and thesis degree options. Thesis option requires completion of 2 thesis courses so the
degree requirements differ from the coursework option as explained below.
A student may not apply the same course toward the
satisfaction of more than one of these requirements. Each student's program of
work must be approved by the Graduate Advisor prior to graduation.
This checklist is available for you convenience in creating your degree plan.
Please see
Course Information
for current and future semester CS teaching plans.
AREA 1 – Background
Requirement
The following UTCS undergraduate courses, or equivalent, are
required as background:
- Architecture (CS 352)
- Operating Systems (CS 372)
- Programming Languages (CS 345) or Compilers (CS 375)
- Theory of Computation (CS 353) or Algorithms (CS 357)
Rules
- We acknowledge that other departments/universities divide
up their curricula in different ways. The important thing is that approximately
the same material has been covered. The decision about what courses count for
what background requirements is made by the Graduate Advisor.
- Any background requirements not met at the time of
admission must be satisfied while enrolled in the Masters program.
- 1 UT course that must be taken to satisfy a background
requirement may be counted toward the coursework degree option (see How To
below). It may not be counted
toward the thesis degree option.
- Graduate level courses may not be used to satisfy background requirements.
How to
- Subject GRE in CS with score of 90-percentile; OR
- Coursework that covers the background topics through any combination of:
- Courses
taken prior to admission.
- The
courses named above taken at UTCS as a graduate student. An overall GPA of 3.50 on background
courses is required unless only 1 course is taken, in which case the
requirement is for a 3.0 in that single class
- Final
exam(s) of appropriate UTCS undergraduate courses passed with at least a B.
AREA 2 – Major Coursework
Requirement
24 hours of major coursework required. Major coursework is
defined as CS courses. Rules differ by degree option. Read below.
Rules for Coursework Option
- 9 hours must be
diversity courses - 1 course from each of the 3 areas must be taken
- The remaining 15 hours may include 1 undergraduate upper division course as follows:
- 1 undergraduate upper division course taken for a letter grade to satisfy the background requirement or another CS undergraduate upper division course (may be taken CR/NC). NOTE: If you satisfied a background course requirement with a course taken as an undergraduate you may not use the equivalent UT course on your program of work for masters degree. It would be considered duplicate work. Ex: You satisfied the CS 352 requirement with a course taken at another university. You could not take CS 352 here and count it on your program of work.
- 1 CS 395 may be counted but no other CS graduate class taken
CR/NC may be counted.
Rules for Thesis Option
Rules are the same as the coursework option with these exceptions:
- The remaining 15 hrs must include a CS 698A and a CS 698B for CR/NC. These courses may not be taken concurrently. You must be enrolled in CS 698B the semester you plan to graduate and though you may enroll in it more than once you may only count it once on your program of work. 698A also counts one time on the program of work. NOTE: Each course only counts for 3 hrs of registration in spite of having 6 at the beginning.
- 1 CS 395 may be counted with (rare) permission from the Graduate Advisor.
How To
The CS graduate department does not advise each semester. You can
seek information on classes from your peers - (See #8 under the new student
information),
looking at course evaluation information and by going to course information.
Personal registration dates and
times can be accessed by going to your Registration Information Sheet (RIS).
AREA 3 – Minor coursework
Requirement
6 semester hours in a minor: a supporting subject or subjects outside of computer sciences.
Rules for Thesis and Coursework Degree Option
- 1 minor course may be taken CR/NC and counted on your program of work
- 1 minor course, if approved, may be an undergraduate upper division
How To
- Email the graduate adviser directly
with a cc: to csadmis@cs.utexas.edu for
minor course approval. You MUST
have approval prior to attending the course.
- Personal registration dates and times can be accessed by going to your Registration Information Sheet (RIS).
READ THIS
In addition to the requirements mentioned above, there are
rules imposed by both the CS department and the Graduate School describing within
what rules these requirements may be satisfied. These rules deal with such
issues as grades, courses taken in residence, transfer credit, and time limits.
Every student should read these rules soon after being admitted to the Masters
program and make sure to satisfy them.
The Graduate School specifies
degree requirements in the Graduate Catalog
that apply to courses counted toward a graduate degree. Read that information
and make sure that you satisfy each item. We summarize below the graduate
school and department requirements that most often affect CS students.
- A maximum of 3 hours of undergraduate classes may be
counted for a 30 hr. masters degree
- A minimum grade point average of 3.0 overall is required.
- All degree requirements must be completed within a 6 year
period.
- Diversity requirement: 9 hours of diversity courses, one
from each diversity area.
- Major requirement: additional CS courses as required for
each degree.
- No more than 3 hours of courses may be taken on a CR/NC
basis (excludes thesis coursework). Rules depend on degree option. See Areas 2 and 3 above.
- To receive a Masters degree, a student must have been in
residence at UT-Austin for two full semesters or equivalent.
- Courses in which a student earned a C- and lower or NC may not be counted on the program of work.
Transfer work
Rules
The following rules apply to courses transferred from another institution:
- Only courses taken at major institutions within the
United States may be transferred.
- Only graduate courses may be transferred. Courses
designed for both graduates and undergraduates are generally not eligible for
transfer credit.
- Only courses
in which a grade of A or B was earned may be transferred.
- A maximum of
two courses (6 hours) may be transferred.
- No course that counted toward a previous degree may be
transferred.
- No transferred course may be used to satisfy a diversity
requirement.
- To apply for transfer credit, a student must submit:
- A petition to the Graduate Advisor. The petition will also have to be signed by the Dean of the Graduate School.
- An official transcript that shows the course that is to be transferred.
- An official explanation of the course numbering system that is used at the institution at which the course was taken.
- A copy of the course description taken from the institution's catalogue or web site.
